ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
OPEN LETTER: DON PRAMUDWINAI .. “DON’T INTERFERE” “DO NOT ESCALATE VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY”
/in Member statements, Press Releases and StatementsJune 18, 2023
We, representatives of Myanmar civil society organizations, strongly condemn the secretive meeting which includes the illegal Myanmar military junta organized by the outgoing Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai of the caretaker Government of Thailand on Sunday 18 June 2023. We demand the caretaker government cancels the meeting immediately.
This is a complete affront to the people of Myanmar who have sacrificed their lives to resist the Myanmar military’s attempt to seize power through years-long terror campaign against the whole nation. The military junta has never been a legitimate government of Myanmar, nor has it acquired effective control over the country’s territories.
This secretive initiative of the outgoing Thai Foreign Minister is in blatant contradiction with the ASEAN consensus on non-invitation of representatives of the military junta in high-level meetings. We are outraged that the Foreign Minister Don stated in his invitation to ASEAN Member States that ASEAN should “fully re-engage Myanmar at the leaders’ level”. This decision was never agreed upon by ASEAN Member States, nor did the Indonesian Government, the incumbent Chair of ASEAN, initiate this meeting. In organizing this meeting, the caretaker Government of Thailand is acting without the mandate and any consultation with the ASEAN Chair. As a member state of ASEAN, Thailand must not deviate from the bloc’s agreement, and must halt this meeting at once.
The caretaker Thai Government’s unilateral move further goes against the United Nations Security Council resolution 2669 on 21 December 2021.
By trying to “fully re-engage” the illegal military junta, representatives of ASEAN Member States will stand in contradiction with the will of the people of Myanmar for the end of military tyranny and for a federal democratic Myanmar. Participation in this secretive meeting, and the failure to cut all ties with the illegal military junta would only be “part of the initial steps” of another failed peace process. Rather, this step sends the signal to the military junta that ASEAN will recognize it despite its commission on heinous crimes. This will only further embolden the military junta to continue its crimes and atrocities, to burn villages, to displace civilian population from their homes and land, to weaponize humanitarian aid and to try to impose its tyrannical rule against the will of the people.
We condemn the secretive initiative of Don Pramudwinai in strongest terms. We demand the caretaker Thai Government cancels this meeting immediately.
We call upon invited states to not attend the meeting, as this meeting will only fuel more violence in our country and undermine other genuine attempts by the international community to address the worsening crisis in Myanmar.
For further information, please contact:
Signed by 316 organizations including 235 organization who have chosen not to disclose their name;
Download open letter in English | Burmese
Human Rights Situation weekly update (June 8 to 14, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from June 8 to 14, 2023
Military Junta troops arrested over 100 local civilians from Thayetchaung Township, Tanintharyi Region, Mabein Township, Shan State and Sataung from Sagaing Region and used them as human shields from June 8th to 14th. Junta soldiers raped and killed 2 women from Mobye Township, Shan State and one woman from Ledo, Kayin State. The Military’s Head of the Prison tortured and investigated over 80 political prisoners from Myingyan Prison, Mandalay Region, moreover did not allow the permission of medical treatment and blocked the family visit for 3 months.
Military Junta troops occupied 5 civilian houses and a rice mill within a week. Military Junta threatened in the announcement on June 12th that if the PDFs are arrested they will seal the house where the PDF rented. Military Junta soldiers are also raiding civilian places and still committing that they are burning civilian buildings, arresting, torturing and killing.
Infogram
Junta cracks down on residents of Myanmar’s Kale township
/in NewsTroops arrested 5 people over 2 weeks in the Sagaing region town.
A junta slipknot is tightening in Sagaing region’s Kale township, as troops guard every intersection, conducting door-to-door searches and arresting people suspected of being involved in pro-democracy politics, locals told RFA Burmese Wednesday.
Five people were arrested between June 1 and June 14, said residents who didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals.
At night troops go from home to home, checking household registration lists, they said. They also stop motorcycles and question riders and passengers.
As a result of the searches they arrested Pau Suan Khual, Su Su Win, Thiri Lin, Mary San and Naing Htwe.
“The junta council troops conduct casual checks in Kale city every day, targeting young people who are on motorbikes and checking their phones,” said a Kale resident who declined to be named.
“People are arrested if they are suspected of being involved in politics.”
The five people, believed to be in their twenties, were taken to the Military Regional Command Headquarters interrogation center in Kale township.
Residents said police and soldiers also threaten passers-by and demand money from them.
RFA called Sagaing region junta spokesperson Aye Hlaing Wednesday but nobody answered.
One man died during interrogation after being arrested on May 19.
Salai Ram Lian Pan, 29, was detained at a junta checkpoint as he tried to ride his motorbike across the township.
On June 7, junta authorities told the family to pick up his dead body.
The National League for Democracy, a party ostensibly dissolved by the government this year even though it won a landslide victory in elections before the Feb. 2021 coup, said Tuesday that 3,818 civilians, including 93 NLD members have been killed since the military takeover.
RFA News
Three weeks of fighting in eastern Myanmar leaves nearly 3 dozen civilians dead
/in NewsA long-simmering conflict has worsened since the 2021 coup.
Three weeks of fierce fighting between junta troops and ethnic Karenni forces in eastern Myanmar has killed at least 35 civilians, including three children, a domestic human rights group and local residents said.
Karenni militias have been battling the military for decades in their campaign for greater autonomy in Kayah and Shan states, but the conflict has worsened in recent months as the Burmese army targets People’s Defense Force fighters who have taken up arms against the military since the 2021 coup.
The two sides have been engaged in armed conflict in Moebye – also known as Mongpai – township in southern Shan state since May 25.
Among those who died were more than 20 men and 10 women, as well as three minors aged eight, 13 and 18, according to Karenni Human Rights Group.
Banyar, executive director of the Karenni Human Rights Group, said that the victims were killed by heavy artillery or because they caught fire as they were trapped in the middle of the fighting.
“They were either killed in the town of Moebye, hit by heavy artillery or shot to death, Banyar, the group’s executive director, told Radio Free Asia on Monday. “Some of them were arrested before being killed. Some were shot at. Some were killed as heavy artillery shelling hit them.”
The organization collected 12 dead bodies and buried them during the first week of June, though some corpses still cannot be collected on account of security issues, Banyar said.
The latest round of civilian deaths comes as the military steps up attacks on its adversaries in the southern Shan and Kayah state townships of Moebye, Pinlaung and Pekon.
Junta forces have conducted airstrikes and heavy artillery assaults on areas where fighters from the Progressive Karenni People’s Force, or PKPF – a local offshoot of the anti-regime People’s Defense Forces – are believed to be, killing civilians in the process.
Relief workers have had difficulties helping the injured and collecting dead bodies because junta troops are everywhere in Moebye, arresting and killing locals, said aid worker Nwe Oo said.
“I’ve heard that there are injured people in Si Kar and Done Tu Htan wards in town, but because we haven’t had a chance to go in, we haven’t been able to bring them out,” she said. “We have to be very vigilant as the fighting has been intense and complicated.”
Artillery fire
To make matters worse, junta forces have blocked some roads in Moebye and have kept open a main road for pedestrian use, she said.
A Moebye resident, who declined to be named for safety reasons, said military troops fired heavy artillery into residential areas.
“We heard gunshot exchanges and artillery fire non-stop last night,” he said, estimating that about 450 junta soldiers have been stationed in high-rise buildings, schools and residential homes.
The resident said three members of a friend’s family were killed on the spot with heavy artillery as they hid in a bomb shelter.
“Because telephone communication has not been reliable, there is no way we will be able to leave the town,” he said.
The junta has not yet issued any statements about the situation in Moebye. RFA could not reach Khun Thein Maung, Shan state’s economic minister and junta spokesman, for comment.
A PKPF official told RFA there have been casualties on both sides in the fighting, and some civilians are still caught up in it.
There have been many casualties among members of the People’s Defense Forces and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, an armed insurgent group formed after the 2021 military coup, and among junta troops who have been firing heavy artillery non-stop, the official said.
“Some civilians have been trapped in town,” he said. “Some people have taken refuge in the monastery because they thought they would be safe there. We heard that some of them managed to sneak out of town, but we don’t know how exactly they escaped.”
More than 50 civilians, including 13 children under the age of 18, died in Moebye between February 2021, when the military seized power from the elected government, and this June 12, according to PKPF figures.
Moebye has a population of about 30,000 people. Some residents remain in about three of the township’s 10 wards, while the rest have fled the fighting.
RFA News
Human Rights Situation weekly update (June 1 to 7, 2023)
/in HR Situation, NewsHuman Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from June 1 to 7, 2023
Military Junta troops launched an airstrike and dropped bombs in Kachin State, Shan State, and Bago Region from June 1st to 7th. Military junta arrested more than 70 civilians and used them as human shields in Sagaing Region and Mandalay Region. Pro Military’ Junta Pyusawhtee militias tortured and killed 2 women in Htantabin Township, Yangon Region.
Military Junta troops burnt and killed a civilian from Sintgu Township in Mandalay Region. 3 civilians including a child were killed and 16 people including 2 children were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks. Civilians’ properties were burnt and damaged by the Military Junta dropping bombs.
Infogram
The missing prisoners of Mandalay Palace
/in NewsYu Wai Myint was a cheerful young woman who liked to sing as she worked at her sewing machine. Forced by family circumstances to drop out of school in the eighth grade, the 22-year-old seamstress never seemed to lament her lot in life.
“She grew up mostly under the care of her grandparents and uncles. She was a happy person. She always sang when she was sewing clothes,” recalled her friend Ko Nge.
But Yu Wai Myint’s life took a dramatic turn when, in February 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power. Having spent half of her young life under civilian rule, she had no desire to see her country come under the control of yet another brutal junta. And so she fought back.
At first, the Mandalay native took part in protests to oppose the coup; then, as the crackdowns grew more ruthless, she joined others in setting up a Facebook page to inform fellow activists of the military’s movements in the city.
As an administrator of the “Voice of Mandalay,” or “Vomdy,” page, she was more than just another keyboard warrior. She was also a wanted woman.
She eluded arrest until late last year. Then, on September 4, two military vehicles appeared in front of her home in Mandalay’s Aungmyay Thazan Township.
“Junta troops ordered her uncle and his wife at gunpoint to show them where she lived. When they arrived, some soldiers went up into the house and some remained downstairs to keep watch,” said Ko Nge.
Like many other regime opponents, Yu Wai Myint had two phones—one she used for more sensitive communications, and another as a decoy. After they caught her, the soldiers slapped her around, demanding to know where her second phone was.
“They threatened her, saying she would find out what they’re capable of if she lied about not having another phone,” Ko Nge recalled.
Later that day, pro-junta Telegram channels reported that “a beautiful young woman” was in regime custody and “being questioned with care.” She has not been heard from since.
Mandalay’s dreaded palace
All that anybody knows about Yu Wai Myint’s fate is that she was taken to Mandalay Palace, the site of one of the junta’s most notorious interrogation centres.
Located at the centre of Mandalay’s walled and moated old city, the palace was the residence of Myanmar’s royal family until 1885, when Thibaw Min, the country’s last king, was forced by the British to abdicate and go into exile in India.
Today, it is one of the most feared places in Myanmar. Torture is routine, and the best that one can hope for after being “questioned with care” there is to be transferred to Mandalay’s Obo Prison.
So far, however, there is no evidence that Yu Wai Myint has yet emerged from within the palace walls. There is faint hope, however, that she is still alive.
“I’ve heard that she is still inside and that she has contracted tuberculosis and is coughing up blood. But we don’t know if she’s getting any treatment. We’re just praying that she will be taken to the hospital,” said Ko Nge, citing a military source.
It is not unusual in Myanmar for prisoners to disappear from sight after being taken into custody. The regime releases no information about detainees, so the friends and families of those behind bars have to rely on sympathetic sources within the system to find out what little they can.
“There are many prisoners whose whereabouts are unknown. They do not appear at court, and we don’t know if they are dead or alive,” said Tate Naing, the secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which attempts to keep track of Myanmar’s thousands of political prisoners.
Lawyers also have limited access to Myanmar’s detention centres, and often learn disturbing details about how prisoners are treated.
Sexual assault, sometimes ending in murder, is common within Mandalay Palace, according to one female lawyer who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.
“Women are molested and verbally abused, and often raped. Then their bodies are disposed of to conceal the crime,” said the lawyer, who estimated that more than a third of the roughly 1,000 people who have been interrogated at Mandalay Palace since the coup were women.
The case of Aye Nandar Soe
“The most notable case is that of the young woman from Sagaing, Aye Nandar Soe. She was blindfolded and taken outside at night. She never arrived at Obo Prison, and no one is allowed to inquire about her,” said the lawyer.
Aye Nandar Soe was a 21-year-old third-year student at the Sagaing University of Education when she was arrestedfor her anti-regime activism on September 18, 2021. As president of the university’s student union and a native of Sagaing’s Taze Township, she led protests both on campus and in her home village, where her parents were simple farmers.
She was on her way home from Mandalay when she was dragged out of a bus at a checkpoint on the bridge linking the city to Sagaing, on the opposite side of the Ayeyarwady River. Like Yu Wai Myint one year later, she was taken to Mandalay Palace, and all contact with her has since been lost.
Wai Lin, a close friend, said that it has been more than eight months since anyone has received any news about her.
“We heard that she was severely tortured, and that she was taken out of the interrogation centre one night with some prisoners who were on death row,” he said, explaining that this information came from other Mandalay Palace detainees who had since been released.
“There was no more news after that. Then we heard that she was dead. It has been a year and a half now,” he added, his voice breaking with emotion.
“I still cry whenever I think about her. I miss her very much. She was a very stubborn and reserved girl,” he said.
After taking a moment to suppress a deep sob, Wai Lin continued in a stern voice: “It’s disgraceful that the junta hasn’t released any news about her. They haven’t even told us if she really is dead. It’s an outrage, and I will never forgive them for this,” he said.
Breaking the silence
Many others have died under similarly murky circumstances inside Mandalay Prison, in most cases without any acknowledgement from the regime.
Lin Paing Soe, a student leader from Kyaukse Technological University, is believed to have died inside the interrogation centre within a day of his arrest on September 30, 2021. It took weeks, however, for this news to reach his family.
Another prisoner who has still not been accounted for is Ven. Sandima, an activist monk who was arrested during a raid on Thinzagar Monastery in Mandalay’s Chanayethazan Township on February 9, 2022. Fears for his safetybegan to grow when he had still not been transferred from Mandalay Palace to Obo Prison more than three months after his arrest. His whereabouts are still unknown, more than a year later.
There is good reason to assume that those who have not been seen since their arrest have been murdered by the regime, according to the lawyer who spoke to Myanmar Now.
“They have been torturing and killing people in plain sight ever since they seized power. It’s even easier for them to do the same to prisoners in their custody and then just dispose of them,” she said.
In January of last year, disturbing reports emerged from Mandalay Palace of three members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions being tortured by having bamboo sticks thrust inside their rectums. They were reportedly denied treatment for their life-threatening injuries.
The identities of the victims were released with the permission of family members in the hope that doing so would protect them from further abuse. However, it is often an agonising decision for families to go public with their fears about the fate of their loved ones.
According to AAPP’s Tate Naing, there is always the concern that speaking out could result in prolonged detention, or worse. But, he added, it is generally better not to allow these cases to go unreported.
“Their lives will actually be in less danger if their stories come out in the news. And the family may be notified about the prisoner’s whereabouts, or their death, even if this information is never disclosed publicly,” he said.
Remaining silent only allows the regime to quietly make the evidence of its brutal treatment of prisoners go away, he added.
“If a prisoner has been severely injured due to torture, they may decide that the best thing to do is just finish them off once and for all,” he said.
Myanmar Now News